NASA has launched a new robotic mission to the moon. LADEE is to study exosphere, the thin volume of gas and dust particles surrounding the satellite. It is also equipped with an experimental high-bandwidth laser communication device to deliver the data.

The orbiter lifted off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
at Virginia coast on late Friday on a Minotaur V rocket, which
made its debut flight in lifting its payload from the gravity
well.

The site was chosen because three of the rocket’s five stages
came from a refurbished intercontinental ballistic missile, and
an international treaty with Russia limits the number of sites
that are allowed to launch ICBMs.

The $280 million Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer
mission is to last for at least 100 days. The probe is expected
to take a month to travel to the moon and will orbit over its
equator at a low altitude of about 50 km. It will take another
month to test its systems before the spacecraft begins
measurements.

LADEE will use its dust impact detector and other instruments to
measure the exact density of the thin lunar atmosphere, which
contains argon, helium, sodium, potassium and other elements.

The study is hoped to clarify a phenomenon, which Apollo pilots
reported 40 years ago. Crews said they saw an odd glow on the
lunar horizon just before dawn, which scientists believe was
electrically charged lunar dust somehow being lifted from the
surface.

The spacecraft will also test a new experimental laser optical
communication device, which uses laser rather than radio waves to
exchange information, as through optical fiber lines.

The technology can potentially provide data transmissions at
rates 10-to-100-times faster than radio frequency communication
offers to space missions now. NASA hopes to incorporate it into
its future robotic missions, including a Mars rover scheduled for
launch in 2020.